Laity Reflections for 1st Sunday in Advent, Year A
First reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 122:1-2;4-5;5-7;8-9
Second reading: Romans 13:11-14a
Alleluia: Psalm 55:5
Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44
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| Eshiebor A. Simon |
Watch, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming...
Now we know that the Lord is coming, what should we do? Should we go sit close to our windows and start watching the fields, watching passersby, reading the Bible 24/7, waiting in alert? Is this what the gospel meant by watching?
To watch is to prepare, for His coming, and this is not something we will do in just a day, it is something we must do at all times, and we must prepare at all times.
To watch is to help others watch, by helping them know that the Lord is coming, so they can prepare too.
To watch is to forgive all who have wronged us, and make peace with all we have wronged.
To watch is to do less of the watching and do more of the walking. Walking in the path of holiness, walking others too, in the path of holiness.
To watch is to not watch things that would sever our relationship with God. Things that would make our bodies, God's temple, impure.
To watch is to do what God has asked us to do, and not do the things He has asked us not to do.
To watch is to pray, that we do not fall into temptation. But when we fall, then quickly we must rise and go back to God.
To watch is to know that we cannot simply tell the hour when He is coming by simply watching or being literally alert. But rather we should pay much attention to our spiritual alertness so that whenever He comes He would find us worthy.
To watch is to know that this world is not our own. Sooner or later, we will all depart. And where we would depart to, is going to be for an eternity.
Eternity means forever and ever. Our Lady of Fatima, in one of her apparitions, told Jancita Marto:
"If men knew what eternity is, they would do everything to change their lives."
While we watch let us think of Eternity. It's not going to be funny if we miss spending our eternity with our eternal Father.
So brethren, let us watch, for we do not know on what day our Lord is coming.
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| Chinwe Ann Udechukwu |
Be prepared!
Be ready!!
Be awake!!!
One thing is sure about preparation both happy and sad preparation, anxiety is the pivot point.
Preparation atimes, takes us away or rather, allow us derail from the main celebration.
Imagine someone in need of money for the Christmas celebration but unfortunately got himself into trouble that led to being imprisoned before the Christmas day!
Or a priest that got all the necessary things ready for the procession of Christ the king celebration but a sister noticed there was no blessed sacrament in the monstrance being processed with!!
Most times, we are being carried away by the preparation of an event and unfortunately, we forget the main thing needed on that event day.
Now, we are getting ready for Christ's incarnation, let us really find out the necessary things needed to be ready, rather than frolicking around in the name of preparation.
Also, it is to be noted that the preparation for the incarnation of our Lord is only one aspect of our Advent preparation. Let us remind ourselves of the need to be prepared for our Lord’s return in judgment without “doomsday paranoia” on one hand or complacency on the other.
May the good Lord bless his word in our hearts through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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| Nancy S. Samuel-Inyang |
My Reflection
The time of Advent is a time of hope. Hope for the coming salvation promised to Israel, and to us.
The First reading talks about that time when there will be peace among the nations, no more wars and weapons of war shall be fashioned into farming implements, and nations shall not learn war any more. That is God's kingdom that we all aspire to.
Prophet Isaiah calls us to, "come let us walk in the light of the Lord". This call is echoed in the Second reading to, "cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light".
To experience salvation, we must put away the works of darkness and walk in the light of Christ; Christ is our light. Saint Paul here let's us feel the expediency of the coming of the salvation of God. The night is far spent and the day is at hand. We are at the dawn of salvation! The time to walk in light is NOW.
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| Fabian Dania |
...and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away...
Life is to be lived out, not as one which will last forever, but as one in which we constantly await and expect the day of the Lord, for a life lived with the consciousness of the Lord's day keeps us prepared and waiting.
Thus, the call to us this day is to live always as though the Lord comes today. This we will achieve by walking in the light of the Lord resisting every attraction to sin, by virtue of God's abundant graces.
Lord! Teach us to live everyday like it's our last, even as we await your coming. Amen.
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| Bernadette Charles-Agetu |
Stay Awake!
Our Lord doesn’t sugarcoat his advice. He knows the kind of death that awaits each of us but we tend to ignore that reality.
"Whistling past the graveyard" is a not an uncommon attitude among those who live as if their lives were endless. But, alas! we are all pilgrims passing through this world on the way to eternity. The best way to live each day is to live it as if it were our last day and live it for our CREATOR. That means having a serious prayer life and acting with a deep spirit of charity. If we knew that today was our last day, how would we live it?
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| Patience Garuba |
My Reflection
We often hear about the calendar year, the fiscal year and the academic year. Today, our interest is in the liturgical year. It starts from the 1st Sunday of Advent, which is today. Therefore, I wish you a happy new liturgical year!
From today’s readings, the mother church offers us sources for our liturgical New Year resolutions. The Gospel tells us to stay awake always. It means to be watchful. Watchful over what? The answer to this question brings us to our second resolution, which comes from the second reading of today. We resolve to avoid evil. In order to succeed in it, we make our third resolution coming from today’s Gospel, which is to always walk in the light of Christ.
Lord, grant that in this liturgical year, we may stay awake always in order to avoid evil and let your light lead us on our pilgrimage to heaven. Amen.
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| Solomon Etsiegbe |
My Reflection
The “flesh” in Romans 13:14 refers to the physical, bodily aspects of a person as opposed to the immaterial soul or spirit. In the Scripture, the flesh is often understood as the seat of sin and rebellion towards God.
The word for “provision” in the original language carries the idea of “thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening.”
If we think about pleasing our flesh, we furnish the flesh to make it happen. It’s as though our thoughts gather the necessary provisions to move forward and act upon our lustful desires. Thus, “make no provision for the flesh” could be translated “do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh”, “don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires”, or “forget about satisfying the desires of your sinful nature”.
To make provision for the flesh is to expect to fail. In a similar way, those who seek to live godly lives must identify their stumbling blocks and remove them.
Believers are to live and behave like Jesus Christ did. To do this, we must put fleshly thoughts out of our minds. Scripture explains that the battle over sin is fought in the mind.
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| Ekene Moses |
My Reflection
Walking in the light of God, in readiness for Christ's coming. The focus of the readings of today is a wake up call and invitation to look inward into ourselves.
With events of our present world, the evidence of our salvation is getting clearer and a reminder to audit ourselves while the time is available. Casting off the works of darkness, is putting off our bad behaviours and things that put us deep in sin and doing things not pleasing to our God.
Living in love, living in justice, consideration for others, mindfulness of the weak and needy around us, giving others opportunity to grow, and not destroying others. Being a better member of our various families and groups that keep them on track to achieve their God given talents, helping others heal, making sacrifices for others' good irrespective of them not paying us back or getting any material rewards, living a life of honesty and not deception, faithfulness to our state of life.
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